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(Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images)

His black t-shirt bore the message: 'free Kobi' and today, a Brooklyn judge did just that. The six-time Coney Island hot dog eating contest winner, Takeru Kobayashi, was released ...

Andy Bernstein in his childhood bedroom. (Photo courtesy of Andy Bernstein)

Not every family road trip inspires a lifelong obsession. But when then-four year old Andy Bernstein’s family took ...

Sunset Park public pool open for summer season (Photo by Michael Drury)

The city's public pools open for the summer season on Tuesday. At a poolside party at Sunset Park ...

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On the one-year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, a block party atmosphere took hold in front of the Apollo Theater in Harlem Friday morning, as scores of Michael Jackson fans--many dressed like the man himself--came out to pay tribute to their fallen King. Boomboxes were turned up and ...

Customers waiting to pick up their iPhones at the Apple store in SoHo (Photo by Kate Hinds)

The newest iPhone went on sale this morning, ...

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Mermaids, Mermen and aspiring Neptunes shimmied and swam their way down Surf Ave. on Saturday at the 20th annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade. Several hundred costumed revelers, including some oil-splattered mermaids waving anti-BP banners and chanting slogans, marched in the sunny three-hour procession.

The burlesque community was well represented ...

The double sided sheet of paper with lyrics to "A Day in the Life" (Photo by Emmanuel Dunard /AFP/Getty Images)

Drop that Frisbee and break out the sheet music.

British artist Luke Jerram has set up 60 pianos in city parks and public spaces for anyone to play. It's part of a public art project called "Play Me, I'm Yours" that’s bringing the hand-decorated instruments to locations like the Staten ...

(Photo by Ryan Muir)

Brooklyn resident and soulful singer-songwriter Norah Jones kicked off Brooklyn's open-air free concert season on Wednesday night with a nearly two-hour show in Prospect Park. Some 5,000 concert-goers turned out, huddling ...

The political pundit/contrarian/outspoken intellectual Christopher Hitchens appeared on the Leonard Lopate Show on Friday to talk about his new memoir, Hitch 22. During the interview, the conversation turned to Margaret Thatcher and Sarah Palin.

Bloomberg receives the first key (Photo by Daniel P. Tucker)

Keys to the city have traditionally been reserved for visiting dignitaries, winning sports teams and heroes like Captain Sully ...

New York City has drawn up a PR play in hope of courting Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star LeBron James to sign with the Knicks or Nets. The two-time All-Star becomes a free agent on July 1. The city's tourism arm, NYC and Company, is ...

On the banks of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, many enjoyed an alternative to the traditional Memorial Day barbecue at the second annual 'Parked,' a food cart festival. About a dozen gourmet food vendors assembled at The Yard, an industrial-looking outdoor event space, where vendors sold everything from pizza ...

The city is seeking a developer to build a new home for the National Jazz Museum in Harlem across 125th Street from the famed Apollo Theater.

The complex will include an art house movie theater and a satellite office of the city's tourism agency.

Today the city's Economic Development Corporation ...

Betty White (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Time Inc.)

The line outside of the NBC studios began at 7 a.m. on Thursday. It stretched halfway down 49th Street. People brought camping gear, snacks, and ...

Miss Universe Stefania Fernandez celebrates Cinco de Mayo at a Mexican chain restaurant. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Over the years, Cinco de Mayo has almost become an unofficial national ...

"Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" on display April 29, 2010 at Christie's in New York. (Photo by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images)

A 1932 Picasso ...

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"The Oscars of the East Coast," is what Donatella Versace called Monday night's Costume Institute Gala Benefit event at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art -- and the event was certainly as glitzy as any Hollywood production. Stars in their fanciest fashions strolled down the red carpet to celebrate ...

It's the eighth annual "poem in your pocket day," the city's effort to encourage New Yorkers to write and share poems, especially in the schools. And to mark the occasion Mayor Michael Bloomberg, once again, read a bit of his own poetry today. Inspired by Obama perhaps...?

"Hope" ...

St. Patrick\'s Cathedral April 28, 2010 (Photo by Stephen Nessen)

Thousands of construction workers, union contractors and families filed into St. Patrick's Cathedral Wednesday in remembrance of the 11 construction workers who ...